Technology

Technology empowers the district in its mission to inspire each student to learn continuously so they are empowered to reach personal fulfillment and contribute purposefully to our ever-changing world.

The vision of Eden Prairie Schools Technology Department is to:

Provide a support structure for staff.

Provide and maintain an infrastructure that allows students and staff to use the district provided technology in an efficient manner.

Provide technology hardware, software and communication tools to meet the needs of staff and students.

Provide professional development structure for staff.

Provide a structure and resources for teaching and learning.

Provide a structure and resources for classrooms.

Balance district technology needs with budgetary constraint

The vision for technology in the Eden Prairie Schools is a vision for our students, the future leaders and citizens of this great nation. The world that our students will own is a much different America than the one in which the majority of our staff grew up. Most of the jobs (experts say as high as 75%) our current kindergarten students will hold have not yet been invented. Few will work at any one job for more than 5-7 years. This means that our future students leave the Eden Prairie Schools with tools such as problem solving, innovative thinking, and collaboration and communication skills. Our learners are engaged in their learning, and technology is as invisible as the pencil. Technology is integrated into all aspects of the student's life, it is age appropriate, and beyond the box...the computer box. It raises the level of thinking so learning is faster, easier, deeper and more visual. School buildings are no longer bound by the walls of the classroom. And there are opportunities for ALL learners, grounded in rich and challenging curricula, with love of learning for a lifetime the goal.

Staff is prepared to meet the new challenges. With dozens of world languages being spoken in the homes of Eden Prairie students, staff is prepared to differentiate content, process and products to meet ever-changing needs... and technology is the perfect tool. To use this tool effectively, teachers are highly trained in both content and pedagogy. Emerging research on brain compatible learning finds that using technology is no longer equated with the teaching of skills but rather integrating it as a tool to solve high-level problems, facing both students and staff. Professional development for staff is robust, ongoing, when and where staff needs it, and there are the time and resources to do it right. Innovation in teaching practice is both encouraged and rewarded. Administrators lead the way in technology by modeling its use with staff and community. They set high expectations for all, including themselves.

The community is a vital partner in the education of our students. They are linked to the education process creating a global community providing benefits to the school and receiving access and opportunities in exchange. They are engaged in the visioning process and fully support the goals and vision of Eden Prairie Schools and its technology vision.